Closed North Sewickley Twp. restaurant becoming car lot

NORTH SEWICKLEY TWP. – A popular local eatery that closed earlier this year soon will have a new usage.

The former Chris' Wolverine Restaurant at 2265 River Road in North Sewickley Township is being converted into a car lot for an Ellwood City dealership. The restaurant, which was a popular gathering place for local community groups, closed after 21 years in March because the owners could not get enough workers to stay in business.

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Sean Myers, chief executive officer and owner of Myers Auto Group, recently purchased the property and is in the process of opening a Good Wheels center there.

When a friend called him and told him the Wolverine was for sale, his first reaction was no, I don't want to be in the restaurant business again, but he quickly saw the other possibility.

"It is a great location for a car dealership, right by Copart Car Auction and a service station. There's a lot of traffic there," Myers said. "Good Wheels sells pre-owned vehicles and motorcycles, and we have plans for people with low credit or no credit."

With Myers it is all about business, as he said he has no interest in cars and doesn't own one.

Twenty-five years ago, Myers began detailing cars in the garage behind his house to make some extra money. It became a full-scale business, Myers Auto Cleaning on Lawrence Avenue in Ellwood City.

"When I first started, I went to the Dollar Store and bought the supplies, now trucks deliver the supplies to my businesses," he said.

As a successful entrepreneur, his business ventures have ranged from the food industry to physical fitness.

Myers bought the building at 225 First Street, known as the Mill Gate as it was part of the Tube Mill, and turned it into a restaurant. Later, he sold it to Nico Lucianos, who was very successful and currently owns Nico's at 813 Woodside Ave.

While developing his businesses, Myers continued to work full-time jobs, including at BASF in Zelienople.

His work ethic and focus on business began when Myers was 12 years old and he went to work for Doug Peffer in his meat cutting business.

"I guess Doug got tired of me looking in the window watching them work. I did whatever he wanted done, cleaning, working in the freezer, skinning deer," he said. "I worked there for 12 years. I would come home from school, go to work, and sometimes work until midnight and do it again the next day. I thought that was a normal life."

It was a pattern Myers would continue through life with long hours and more than one job at a time.

While attending Riverside High School, Myers found time for football and track, graduating in 1992. He remembered meeting Maxie Williams at football camp. Williams, an offensive lineman, who played for the Houston Oilers for one year and then played with the Miami Dolphins from 1966-71, was living in Ellwood City. He later opened Maxie-Mum Fun and Fitness Center on Lawrence Avenue.

Myers bought the fitness center and was successful for a number of years. "Maxie really never left. He kept stopping in," he said.

Williams died in 2009. Myers sold the fitness business, but continues to be interested in physical fitness and describes his home gym as looking like Planet Fitness.

His work history includes going to work in a mill in Zelienople until it closed and working for Good Wheels for 13 years. When McElwain's Auto business was unable to keep up with the volume of detailing, Myers was able to take it on.

One day Kevin McElwain called and invited Myers to stop in for a talk and offered him a job as service manager.

"I told him that I didn't know anything about cars, and he said that was perfect. He said he hired me for my ability to handle people and businesses," Myers said.

Myers was able to hire his father, Warren, and they worked together for 20 years. Myers' son, Jared, went to college in Florida, attended the police academy, worked a short time as a police officer before returning to the car business and has since joined his father in the business.

"I am really happy that we are three generations working together," Myers said.

He said the new Good Wheels location is getting ready to open in early September.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Ellwood City auto group converting former North Sewickley Township restaurant into car lot.